I canned about 10 pints of apricot preserves before taking the weekend off from gardening tasks. The birds enjoyed themselves, but I managed to salvage the few remaining today. And now the tomatoes are beginning to ripen! We tried a new varieties this year, with names like "Phoenix", "Solar Fire", and "Summer Set" that sounded like they would tolerate hot weather. I haven't done any taste comparisons yet, but the fruits are larger than we've gotten before, and they seem less susceptible to the blossom-end-rot issues that seem to plague our Early Girl fruits.
Putting up tomatoes is much less labor intensive than making preserves. Because we wind up using all of them within a few months, I just wash them and put them in ziplock bags, and into the freezer they go. When I'm ready to use them in soups, sauces, or salsa, I just thaw them out. The skins will slip right off...much easier than dealing with pots of boiling water!
My new favorite thing to do with the little red and orange cherry tomatoes is to halve them, toss with olive oil and basalmic vinegar, along with chopped basil and any other fresh herbs I'm in the mood to throw in, and refrigerate a few hours before serving.
No comments:
Post a Comment